Geographic locationSituated in the northwest of China, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region was known in China as the Western Territory in ancient times.Its 1.66 million square kilometers represent about one-sixth of the total territory of the country, making it the largest of China's regions and provinces. Xinjiang also has the longest boundary among China's provinces and autonomous regions and shares 5,600 kilometers of frontier with Mongolia in the northeast, then Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan in the west, and then Afghanistan, Pakistan and India in the southwest.

Natural resources

Land

About 68 million hectares or 41.2 percent of Xinjiang's total area are considered suitable for the development of agricultural, forestry and animal husbandry. Of this there are some 48 million hectares of natural grassland for grazing, 9 million hectares available for reclamation, over 4 million hectares under cultivation and 666,700 hectares of man-made pastures. Xinjiang is one of the country's five major grazing areas. In addition there are some 4.8 million hectares of land available for forestry including 1.5 million hectares in production with reserves of some 250 million cubic meters of timber.

Biological resources

Xinjiang is home to 699 species of wild fauna, including 85 species of fish, 7 species of amphibians, 45 species of reptiles and 137 species of mammals. More than 4,000 species of wild flora have been identified, of which over 1,000 varieties such as bluish dogbane and Taraxacum kok-saghyz ( T. kok-saghyz Rodin ), are of significant economic value.

Minerals

Among the 122 minerals that have been discovered, several are the largest reserves nationwide. These include beryllium, muscovite, natron saltpeter, pottery clay and serpentine.

Known reserves of iron ore are put at 730 million tons, while those for salt are 318 million tons, mirabilite 170 million tons and natron saltpeter over 2 million tons.

With its deposits of more than 70 non-metalic minerals, Xinjiang is well known both at home and abroad for its muscovite, gemstones, asbestos and Khotan (Hetian) jade.

Estimates put Xinjiang's coal reserves at about 38 percent of the national total.

Petroleum and natural gas reserves estimated at 30 billion tons, account for more than 25 percent of the national total.

Environment and current issues

In 2003, the volume of sulfur dioxide discharged was managed down to a level of 293,000 tons, a decrease of 1.1 percent on the year before. Meanwhile the 187,000 tons of smoke discharged represented a drop of 2.1 percent.

Industrial dust saw an increase of 1.4 percent to 95,000 tons. Industrial solid wastes were up 0.3 percent at 691,000 tons. Oxygen-depleting chemical residues in waste water were up 3.5 percent at 212,000 tons.

Looking at the overall picture, every-day pollution discharges had been slightly reduced on the year before. The number of days when the state air quality standards were satisfied at first or second-grade was 5.3 percentage points higher at 63.4 percent for the year. About 17.8 percent of the days met the third-grade, a drop of 3.9 percent. The days meeting the fourth and fifth grades accounted for 18.8 percent, down 1.4 percent.

Nature reserves occupy an area of 204,200 square kilometers. Eight national-class ecological demonstration zones have been approved. Within these, eight experimental areas and units/workplaces have been set up.

There are 58 smoke-control zones, protecting an area of some 352 square kilometers, up by 0.2 percent on the previous year. Thirty-nine zones have satisfied the environmental noise criteria, covering an area of 315 square kilometers, up 5 percent.

Census

According to estimates projected from a random sample of the population at the end of 2003, the total population of Xinjiang was some 19,339,500. This was an increase of about 287,600 or 1.5 percent year on year.

Urban residents had increased in number by 3.2 percent to some 6,651,100 with the rate of urbanization up 0.6 percentage points at 34.4 percent. There were 12,688,400 rural residents up 0.7 percent.

In terms of the gender split, males made up 51.4 percent of the population at 9,942,400 compared with 9,397,100 females.

Birth rate was 16.0 per thousand, mortality rate was 5.2 per thousand and the natural growth rate of the population was 10.8 per thousand in 2003.

Life expectancy

Xinjiang is one part of the world where people tend to enjoy a relatively longer life expectancy. The third national census showed that of 3,765 centenarians throughout the country as a whole, 865 resided in Xinjiang. The International Society for Natural Medicine has designated Hetian Prefecture as one of the world's long-lived prefectures.

Ethnicity

The largest ethnic group comprises some 7,497,700 Han people, accounting for 40.6 percent of the population of Xinjiang. The remaining 10,964,900 people or 59.4 percent, represent no fewer than 47 ethnic minority groups. Thirteen of the ethnic groups have lived in Xinjiang for centuries. These are the Uygur, Han, Kazak, Hui, Mongolian, Kirgiz, Tajik, Xibe, Ozbek, Manchu, Daur, Tartar and Russian peoples.

Education

In 2003, there were some 147,600 undergraduates enrolled in 26 general universities across the region. The number from ethnic minorities had increased 6 percent to 65,100. The overall figure was up 11.6 percent on the year before and included 3.3 percent new entrants at 43,100.

There were 3,629 graduate students enrolled in 9 universities or research institutes. This was up 45.5 percent on the previous year and included 1,664 new entrants, up 50.7 percent. Among the graduate students, the number from ethnic minorities had increased 42.5 percent to 332.

The 78 Secondary Polytechnic Schools had a combined roll-call of 71,500 students, down 14.8 percent on the year before. Secondary Vocational Schools also saw their numbers drop, in this case by 10.8 percent to 45,300. However the 500 general senior secondary schools were up 15.7 percent with 315,200 enrolled students, including 126,200 new entrants, an increase of 11.3 percent. General junior secondary schools¡¯ enrollments were up by 6.3 percent at 1,133,400.

The 2,289,000 pupils enrolled in primary schools represented a drop of 2.9 percent.

School enrollments covered 98.3 percent of children of school-age. About 96.5 percent of pupils who stayed on to complete primary school progressed to junior secondary school where enrollments covered 83.8 percent of those of school-age.

The drop-out rate for students in general junior secondary schools was 3 percent and 40.9 percent of those completing moved on to enroll in general senior secondary schools.

Combined new enrollments in adult-educational colleges and universities numbered 87,800, a drop of 31.3 percent compared with the previous year. Meanwhile new student enrollments in Secondary Polytechnic Schools totaled 8,100, a decrease of 53.4 percent.

Some 35,000 people, ranging from their twenties to their fifties, shook off their illiteracy in 2003

In 2003, the value-added within primary industry was 41.3 billion yuan, up 8.2 percent on the year before.

The value-added in secondary industry was 79.6 billion yuan, up 12.3 percent. This total was split 57.1 billion yuan in the industrial sector (up 11.2 percent) and 22.5 billion in construction (up 15.0 percent).

Railways

China's third drive to upgrade train speeds across the nation is currently in hand. Work on the Lanzhou-Xinjiang Railway represents one of the major projects in pursuit of this aim. Construction is progressing smoothly with completion anticipated by October 1, 2004.

The Lanzhou-Xinjiang Railway runs more than 2,000 kilometers from Lanzhou City in Gansu Province in the east to Alataw Pass, the westernmost point of the Chinese section of the second Eurasian Link. It is a principal artery linking China's east and west and is the only railroad running between Xinjiang and the rest of China.

A dual-track section of the Lanzhou-Urumqi railroad is already operational and construction of the Korla-Kashi section of the Southern Xinjiang Railroad, also a major project, is in full swing. Works to the value of 2.4 billion yuan have been completed in the westward extension of the Southern Xinjiang railroad and the northern section of Wusu-Ala Pass railway.

Highways

Highways have now been extended to all counties and prefectures together with 99 percent of towns and villages.

A road-transportation network comprising seven national highways and 62 regional trunk highways links Urumqi at its hub with Gansu and Qinghai provinces in the east, the Tibet Autonomous Region in the south and the Central Asian countries in the west.

At the end of 2003, there were 59,900 kilometers of highway (up just 0.7 percent). However freight volumes were up 9.1 percent at 32.5 billion ton-kilometers with passenger transport up 5.0 percent at 19.5 billion person-kilometers.

Waterways

Steamers and barges operate seasonal services on the Ili and Ertix rivers.

Air-links

Xinjiang boasts the greatest number of airports and the longest air routes of all the provinces and autonomous regions of China.

Urumqi International Airport is one of China's six major airports with flights to West Asian and European countries.

Reconstruction and expansion is currently underway at Urumqi International Airport. At the end of 2003, its civil aviation routes totaled 116,000 kilometers (down 12.1 percent). Freight volumes were down 22 percent at 64 million ton-kilometers with passenger transport up 4.3 percent at 4.09 billion person-kilometers.

Urumqi Urumqi is the capital of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and the most 'inland' city in the world. With a population of two million gaily-dressed ethnic inhabitants, the city is likened to a piece of emerald embedded at the foot of the Tianshan Mountains. It lies in the lofty ice-capped Bogda Peak and vast Salt Lake in the east; in the rolling pine-covered Southern hill, a well-known scenic district, in the south; and in the alternating fields and sand dunes of Zunggar Basin in the northwest.

The temperature in Urumqi widely ranges between day and night as it belongs to the semi-arid continental climate of middle temperate zone. The climate is extremely arid due to long period of sunlight and bare precipitation. It has shorter spring and autumn; and longer winter and summer. May to October is the golden season for traveling to Urumqi, when flowers are in full bloom and the fruits, like melons, are ripe with its fragrance. Here we should indicate that there are two hours time difference between Xinjiang and Beijing. The local working time is usually from 09:30 or 10:00. You had better not start your travel plan before 08:00 in the morning since it is still dark at that time.

Tourist resources of Urumqi have its own advantages and distinctions, which are strategically important in the ancient Silk Road that assembles the cultures of both eastern and western countries. The most famous tourist spots among the numerous cultural relics and natural landscapes include the Heavenly Lake, the Southern Pastures, the Red Hill, the Southern Mosque, the Tartar Mosque, and the Xinjiang Regional Museum.

In recent years, the city of Urumqi has continuously developed its economy, industry, culture as well as tourism and transportation. More choices for accommodation and dining, ranging from luxury hotels to budget hostels and from western restaurants to the local food street have been established. Nightlife in Urumqi provides multiple-range of choices such as watching the ethnic sing-and-dance show, tasting native delicacies in the night market, or simply hanging out in bars. Coming to Urumqi will not let you return to your country empty-handed. Shopping in the International Grand Bazaar is a pleasant experience. Bargain hunting for handicraft souvenirs such as rugs, carpets, Uygur-style hats, knitted sweaters, ethnic costumes, hand-made embroideries and jade carvings, will definitely draw your intense interest

KashgarKashgar is sited west of the Taklamakan Desert at the feet of the Tian Shan mountain range. Its coordinates are 39¡ã24¡ä26¡åN, 76¡ã6¡ä47¡åE. It is 1,290 m/4,232 ft above sea level.

Situated at the junction of routes from the valley of the Oxus, from Khokand and Samarkand, Almati, Aksu, and Khotan, the last two leading from China and Pakistan, Kashgar has been noted from very early times as a political and commercial centre.

The Kashgar oasis is where both the northern and southern routes from China around the Taklamakan Desert converge. It is also almost directly north of Tashkurgan through which traffic passed from the ancient Buddhist kingdom of Gandhara, in what is now Pakistan, and Jalalabad in eastern Afghanistan.

About 200 km (120 mi) west of the present city, just past the present border with Kyrgyztan, the main Silk Road crossed into the head of the Alai Valley from where relatively easy routes led southwest to Balkh or northwest to Ferghana. The present main road now travels northwest through the Torugart pass.

The Karakorum highway (KKH) links Islamabad, Pakistan with Kashgar over the Khunjerab Pass. Bus routes exist for passenger travel south into Pakistan.

Kyrgyzstan is also accessible from Kashgar, via the Torugart Pass and Irkeshtam Pass; as of summer 2007, daily bus service connects Kashgar with Bishkek's Western Bus Terminal

Turpan
Turpan is an old city with a long history. Traces have been found of humans living there, dating as far back as 6,000 years ago. The city was known as Gushi in the Western Han Dynasty (206BC-24AD), and in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), it got its name Turpan. Turpan means 'the lowest place' in the Uygur language and 'the fertile land' in Turki. Lying in the Turpan Basin, the elevation of most of the places in the area is below 500 meters (1,640 feet). Turpan is the city with the lowest elevation in China.

Occupying an area of 15,738 square kilometers (6,076.5 square miles), Turpan City Prefecture is located to the southeast of Urumqi, the capital city of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. The city belongs to Turpan Region together with Shanshan County and Tuokexun County. Turpan has a population of 250,000, made up of 21 different nationalities. Among these the Uygurs account for over 70% of the total number.

The city, which is also known as Huo Zhou (a place as hot as fire), is the hottest place in China. The annual average temperature is 14C (57.2F). It is reckoned that there are 152 summer days on average, and 28 really broiling days with the temperature above 40C (104F). Although the high temperature can be oppressive people can also get some benefits from it. The abundant sunshine gives the melons and grapes ideal conditions to grow. The fruit here is widely known for its high sugar content, especially the grapes. Turpan is praised as the 'Hometown of Grapes' and the Grape Valley is a good place to enjoy the grapes of hundreds of varieties. Apart from that, the locals are quite fond of sand therapy which has a history of hundreds of years in Turpan. People lie or sit under sheds, burying their bodies in hot sand about 50C (122F) to 60C (140F). It is said to be a good way to treat rheumatism and skin ailments. There is a Sand Therapy Center in the northwest of the city which is popular among visitors
Turpan is a marvelous city blending Western and Eastern religions and culture together perfectly. The geographical position of Turpan is rather important. Lying at the junction of the east and the west of China, it has been a key point on the Silk Road since ancient times, with a great number of historical relics as well as unique landscapes.

Flaming Mountain, which is mentioned in a classical Chinese novel The Journey to the West is the hottest place in China. Emin Minaret is the largest ancient Islamic tower in Xinjiang; and Jiaohe Ancient City and Gaochang Ancient City are witnesses to the long history of Turpan. Aydingkol Lake, at the bottom of Turpan Basin, is the lowest point in the country, and Astana-Karakhoja Ancient Tombs, Bizalkik Thousand Buddha Caves, Tuyu Valley are also popular attractions. Karez System is one of the four great irrigation system of China and it is a crystallization of ancient people's wisdom and the life source in Turpan
As a city inhabited by minority groups, you can find Uygur snacks in the streets and lanes. Kebabs, Zhua Fan (Rice Eaten with Hands), Nang, Roast Lamb will make your mouth water. There are also many traditional drinks in Turpan, including milk tea, black tea, grape wine and mare's milk. The traditional handcrafts are exquisite and are worth collecting. Carpets, clothes, caps and knives are favorites, with distinctive folk characteristics.

Turpan is an important city along the ancient Silk Road and the transportation here is very convenient. It is considered to be the hub between Xinjiang and the eastern part of China. As well as the usual vehicles, there is a special 'donkey taxi' here. It is a kind of flatbed drawn by donkey. Visitors can sit and ride on the vehicle to get a broad overview from a leisurely look around the city.
Turpan has star-level hotels as well as economy hostels. Nearly all of them have their own grape vines and wineries. Visitors can take a walk or taste the sweet grapes under the grape vines. Traditional Uygur singing and dancing shows can be seen there, too